Malcolm Defends Reese
Malcolm Defends Reese is the ninth episode of Season 7 and the 138th episode overall of Malcolm in the Middle. It aired on December 16, 2005. Synopsis Reese is being publicly humiliated by Mr. Herkabe, which leads him to a depression. Malcolm puts his ego to the side for a minute to help him. Meanwhile, Dewey has a crush on another girl at his school. Plot Malcolm and Reese end up in the same class since Reese failed the previous year. Mr. Herkabe, who may lose his award for the school's highest GPA to Malcolm, gleefully humiliates Reese every day until he agrees to start failing his classes. Malcolm proves to be a lot smarter than he anticipates and has an ace up his sleeves. He pretends to agree to get him to stop tormenting Reese. Malcolm then tricks Mr. Herkabe by curiously asking him how he got his GPA award in the first place. He would like to know that secret to keeping the award. Malcolm reassures that he won't tell anyone as long as Herkabe uphold their deal that he leaves Reese alone in exchange for him tanking his classes. In an air of confidence, he makes the mistake in confessing to Malcolm that he cheated his way to get his award. Herkabe mentioned that he had been lying about not taking gym because it was a class that he had actually failed due to his lack of coordination, years ago. Taking this into account, Malcolm watches Mr. Herkabe leave his sight. Using his brain, he decides to get revenge on Herkabe by telling the principal, Mr. Hodges, his terrible secret. Meanwhile, Jamie's new babysitter, Claire, drives Lois crazy with her nonstop talking. When Lois tells her to go away and stop bothering her, she locks the front door. However, Claire appears from the back door, thanking for being honest in expressing her hatred because they now know they have problems. She is willing to let Lois talk about them, much to her dismay. The next day, Claire has died and Donna pays the family a visit. Soon she starts annoying them with the same non-stop talking. The next day, Mr. Herkabe is seen complaining to the janitor not to revoke his title just because he flunked gym and had cheated his way to keep it by lying about not taking the course for years. He ignores it and removes Herkabe's name off the GPA award. The janitor gives it to Mr. Hodges who immediately rebukes Herkabe for humiliating North High in front of the student press. Malcolm is seen pleased by his humiliation as Hodges points out that that Gym is part of the curriculum. Had Herkabe passed Gym and not lied about taking the course, his GPA award and title would've been safe. However because he lied and failed Gym, Hodges has to revoke his title and Herkabe will face proper punishment for humiliating North High. He immediately returns the GPA award to Edna Thornby, the school's previous best student. Hodges points out that although she was blind and crippled, she still managed to pass physical education. Herkabe blames Malcolm for humiliating him in front of the whole school by exposing his secret. Because of him, Herkabe lost his award and will find a way to make him pay for it. Meanwhile, Dewey has a crush on a girl named Gina at his school. Hal's attempt to help him break the ice with her. He give Dewey candy to give Gina, but it gets him into trouble with her father and he points out that she is allergic to nuts. Later on, he blames Hal for ruining his chances with Gina, getting him into trouble with her father and driving away from the scene when he needed his help. Hal attempts to apologize, claiming that the father intimidated him so much that he had to flee. Dewey rejects the apology and points out that he knows better than to believe him. He tells Hal to stop butting in his life and leave him alone. Realizing how angry Dewey is with him, Hal attempts convince Gina to talk to him by bribing her with candy without nuts and apologizes for getting her sick. She ignores him and an elderly neighbor named Mrs. Conlin witnesses this exchange. She calls the police to report him, believing him to be a child molester. Hal is arrested by the police for being a child sex predator with intent to sexually molest Gina. He tries to defend himself, claiming he was trying to convince her to talk to his son and he's not a sexual predator. In the end, Dewey is able to talk to Gina. Herkabe has to retake gym to reclaim his award as ordered by Mr. Hodges and isn't allowed to teach anymore. Before he can insult Malcolm for ruining his life, a gleeful Reese gratefully defends him by tossing a dodgeball at Herkabe. This makes him fall down and the students begin laughing at him. No sooner that Herkabe stands up, Reese tosses another dodgeball at him. Due to his lack of coordination, he endures more humiliation from Reese who continues pelting him with dodgeballs. A smug Malcolm walks away and is pleased by Herkabe's humiliation. Cast *Jane Kaczmerek as Lois *Bryan Cranston as Hal *Christopher Kennedy Masterson as Francis(credit only) *Justin Berfield as Reese *Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey *Frankie Muniz as Malcolm Guest Stars Recurring *Chris Eigeman as Mr. Herkabe *Jamie and Lucas Rodriguez as Jamie Cameo *Hospin as a Student Reporter(uncredited) *Steve Vinovich as Mr. Hodges *Kathryn Joosten as Claire *Mimi Cozzens as Donna *Vanessa Marano as Gina *Kevin Will as Gina's Father *Fiona Hale as Edna Thornby *Tom Lent as Janitor Trivia *First appearance of Mr. Hodges who replaces Mr. Block as North High School's principal. *Final appearance of Mr. Herkabe. *Rapper Hospin makes an uncredited appearance as a student photographer. Category:Episodes Category:Season 7 Category:Episodes focusing on Reese Category:Episodes focusing on Malcolm Category:Episodes without Francis